Ballina Coastcare is delighted with the success of its application for $14,980 to undertake a council-approved coastal rehabilitation project on Angels Beach.The grant was one of a number announced this week by the NSW Environmental Trust as part of its annual Restoration and Rehabilitation Community Grants program.
‘This is a project we have been waiting years to fund,’ said Lee Andresen from Ballina Coastcare. ‘With it we can now rehabilitate 2.5 hectares of badly degraded bushland and dunes along a 500-metre strip of Angels Beach near the derelict carpark’
‘This will finally heal the full length of fragmented bushland between Black Head and Sharpes Beach,’ Mr Andresen said, ‘and restore the integrity of the whole of Angels Beach as a wildlife species corridor.
The work will be undertaken by local bush regeneration contractors experienced in the coastal strip. Occasional volunteer working bees will lend a hand. It will comprise a two-year carefully staged weed removal program, followed by reforestation with native species as needed.
‘The job should be over by mid-2014,’ Mr Andresen said, ‘but the future depends on garnering a support group from among local residents. Someone has to continue caring for the area after the funding runs out.
East Ballina residents – particularly those living between Beachfront Parade and Bayview Drive – interested in volunteering to help with the project can email [email protected], leave a message on 6619 1019, or contact Ballina Council’s natural resource extension officer.
